Editorial: Who will have energy to get the job done?

A series of bold energy ideas has captured the imagination of Americans recently and provided hope that the nation can climb out of an economic and environmental hole.

A series of bold energy ideas has captured the imagination of Americans recently and provided hope that the nation can climb out of an economic and environmental hole.

In a Nixon-goes-to-China moment, T. Boone Pickens, a Texas oilman, has been spending millions of dollars on television ads extolling the virtues of wind- and solar-generated electricity. The United States cannot drill its way out of high gas prices or its dependence on foreign oil, Pickens says.

Former Vice President Al Gore, who since the 2000 election has reinvented himself as the nation’s leading environmental prophet, proposes that 100 percent of the nation’s electricity be generated by renewable energy sources. Gore wants to reduce global warming from coal-burning power plants.

And General Motors continues to push ahead with its visionary Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid vehicle, which would allow Americans to commute without burning gasoline.

Contrast these ideas (two of which come from Republican-leaning entities), with the solution proposed by President Bush and Republicans in Congress, who seem to believe that oil prices will magically drop if oil barons get to drill in Alaska and off the coasts.

Bush and the Republicans choose to ignore that even if such oil can be obtained, it will take up to a decade for Americans to see the first drop. Oil companies also have offshore leases they have not tapped. Meanwhile, gas prices probably will continue to rise while global warming worsens.

To their credit, both parties’ presumptive nominees are open to the Pickens and Gore plans, although Arizona Sen. John McCain mistakenly has endorsed more drilling.

There are huge obstacles facing these three efforts. Pickens believes cleaner-burning natural gas can replace one-third of imported oil as a transportation fuel within 10 years if the United States substitutes renewable energy for natural gas to make electricity.

Gore said his vision for having renewable energy replace coal-generated electricity (roughly half of the nation’s electricity comes from coal) is no pipe dream. In Illinois, we have seen an explosion of interest in wind power, with wind farms proposed or constructed throughout the state.

Some scientists think there is more than enough solar and wind power available to generate all the electricity the world needs without a single fossil fuel being burned.

But we have not given up on the idea of burning coal cleanly. Evidence exists that carbon dioxide emitted can be captured when coal is converted to synthetic gas.

One good thing the Illinois House did before adjourning was pass a bill that would provide state funding for the design of the proposed Taylorville Energy Center, which would burn gasified coal, and require the state’s utilities to buy power from it. When the Senate returns in November, it should do likewise.

General Motors probably has staked its future on the Chevy Volt, turning upside down its model for building cars by giving the public an inside view of its progression. As reported by The Atlantic Monthly this month, GM has major problems figuring out how to design and mass-produce an affordable battery that would meet its goal of the Volt going 40 miles between charges.

It seems like all of these ideas have game-changing potential for the U.S. economy and the planet if the United States elects a person who gets it in November. That person will have to do what great presidents have done but Bush has failed spectacularly at: Encourage real sacrifice by Americans, innovation by business and provide the government support to make both happen. We’ll be watching over the next several months to see who that is.

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